James e



(No Model.)

J. E. WHITE. MAIL GATGHER.

Patented May 10,1898.

WITNESSES: lA/VE/VTOI? Jamws E.Wh/1/Ze onus virus 50-, movou'maq WAsM UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. l/VHITE, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE C. HITT AND HARRY S. NEW," OF SAME PLACE.

MAlL-CATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,749, dated May 10, 1898. Application filed October 19, 1897. Serial No. 655,666. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

In the use of mail-catchers as they have heretofore been constructed there has been a tendency on the part of the mail-sacks which are being caught thereby to frequently catch and jam in the elbow of the catcher, and when so caught and jammed it is generallya work of some difficulty to remove them, and such work also involves some danger to the postal clerk on the car. With such mailcatchers also there has been a tendency on the part of the mail-sacks when they did not become so caught and jammed to slip off the arm of the mail-catcher before they could be seized by the mail-clerk in the car and be thrown to the ground, so that the object of the mail-catcher is defeated. Obviously anything that tends to prevent these disadvantages and to insure the safety of the mailsacks and the certainty of properly catching and delivering them is of considerable importance.

The object of my said invention is to provide a mail-catcher whereby the mail-sacks can be prevented from jamming and also whereby said mail-sacks may be detained on the catcher-arm long enough to enable the mail-clerk to receive them properly, thus insuring them against being thrown onto the ground and lost or, as is sometimes the case, destroyed by the car-wheels.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a side elevationof a portion of the side of a mail-car provided with a mail-catcher embodying my said invention; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the mail-catcher separately and on a considerably-enlarged scale, and Fig. 3 a detail sectional'view as seen when looking in the direction indicated by the arrows from the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the mail-car, to which the catcher I is attached; B, the shaft of said mail-catcher; O, the arm thereto or portion which projects to catch the mail-bag, and D a spring which is secured to a portion on the shaft and extends out and preferably encircles the arm.

The car A is or may be any ordinary mailcar and is preferably of the standard form. That portion is shown which includes one of the doors, and bearings a are shown alongside said doors within which the shaft of the mail-catcher rests. Said bearings are preferably of such a form and arrangement that the mail-catcher can be reversed, so as to be Operative when the car is running in either direction.

The mail-catcher is or may be in its general form and construction of a usual and Well-known form. Its shaft 13, when the mailcatcher is in use, rests in the bearings or alongside the door of the car. It is provided with a hub-like portion B, which develops into a handle B on one side and a bearing B for the catching-arm on the other side. Interposed between this hub and one of the bearings a is preferably a spring I), said spring be ing usually of rubber.

The arm 0 is connected to the hub portion B and extends out in substantially the usual direction and is or may be of the usual form, except that it is provided at intervals along its length with protuberances 0. These protuberances, while smooth and of a very gradual inclination in the direction of their length, so as not to injure or materially interfere with the movement of the mail-sack, are of such form transversely as to engage more efficiently with the surface of the sack than a perfectly smooth arm will, and they thus serve to detain the sack after it is caught by the mail-catcher until the postal clerk has abundant opportunity to seize the same and withdraw it into the car. At the same time these protuberances do not grip or hold the sack so as to interfere with the WOl'kOf handling it. The detention necessary, as will be readily understood by those familiar with such matters, only needs to be momentary.

The spring D is secured, preferably, to the hub portion B and extends around thence in a curved direction to the arm 0 and is preferably so formed on its outer or free end as to encircle said arm. This spring is substantially a fiat spring, preferably having the edges somewhat rounded, so that it shall not be likely to cut or tear the mail-sacks when they come in contact therewith. Its inner end is secured to the hub, as stated, and its outer end is widenedinto ears, which are bent to embrace or partially surround the arm 0, forming a connection which will hold said end in line with said arm and at the same time permit it to slide somewhat thereon. The operation is, as will be readily understood, when a mail-sack comes in contact with this spring, that said spring will yield somewhat and at the same time resist the impact of said mail-sack, and the eifect is to prevent the mail-sack from being jammed in the elbow of the mail-catcher. A small projection c on the outer side of the arm G, behind the end of the spring, which surrounds said arm, may also be provided to serve as a stop to prevent the movable end of the spring from being driven back too far.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

,1. The combination in a mail-catcher, of the shaft B, the handle, the catcher-arm O mounted in a suitable hub thereon and formed with a bend or elbow at its extremity, and a spring-strip secured rigidly on one side of said elbow and extending across and loosely connected to the member on the opposite side, whereby it is adapted to receive the impact of the mail-sacks and prevent them from being jammed in said elbow, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a mail-catcher, of the shaft, the handle, the catcher-arm mounted in a suitable hub on said shaft, being formed with a bend or elbow at its extremity, and the spring-strip D secured rigidly to one part on one side of the bend a distance from its extreme point and extending across and formed with ears on its other end which embrace the other part of said arm and are adapted to slide thereon, the outer member of said arm being formed with a series of protuberances throughout its length which inhand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this th day of October, A. D. 1897.

JAMES E. WHITE.

Witnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. WALSH. 

